Chapter 2 : Befall
Chapter 2
"PER ASPERA AD ASTRA! THROUGH HARDSHIPS TO THE STARS!"
What a fitting name for the game. This game has been awesome, there's no VR game that has even come close to the feeling of this game. The sense of touch, smell, hearing, visuals ,pain, everything, is just as if you're there in real life.
[Objective: as a team clear the area of monsters: 0/9601
Rewards: ?
Failure: The Game Server will shut down, and you'll lose your beta access.
Time Limit: 25: 00: 00]
"!"
"Hey, is this for real?"
"Yeah It seems so."
"But to think we need to kill 9600 monsters"
"It'll be easy!"
a confident voice came from my side.
"Listen here. we're in a new game, what's the thing we need to do first?"
"?"
"Ah, listen here and let me speak. if there's a new game we have to limit test first, find the META."
"OOOH" a lot of voices are admiring him... wait isn't he?
"Hey aren't you? 'Imitator'?"
a voice from the crowd asks the charismatic man beside me.
"Oh yeah, that used to be my IGN." (WN: IGN is In Game Name)
"OH! Damn I never thought I'd go into the beta of a game with [Imitator] in it."
"Hahaha, you're flattering me, but still, think about it, it's a new game, and I'm pretty hooked the first time I saw this!"
From his hands, a gauntlet with spikes protruding it, appears, and from his other hand, an elegant staff.
"!"
"The Unkillable Demon Lord Is Back! All Hail the demon lord."
The legendary unkillable demon lord of League of Ancients, Even throughout the moba world, nobody has a legacy as solid as his, with 5 back to back world championships, in 5 different teams. They said that MOBA is a team game, this person proved them all wrong... the developers even nerfed his hero to the ground, but somehow he still manages to come out on top. He's just... too damn good.
Everybody knows who he is.
"[Imitator]-nim, please guide us noobs." we know that [Imitator]'s korean.
"Well even if you say that... This is my first time playing too. Let's just work together and scout out first, and gauge the enemy's strength.... ah and remember, this is a backwater planet from the cutscene we saw, so use our superior education as an advantage. dig pit-falls traps, make long range mana constructs, oh and one more thing that i've learnt..."
[Imitator]-nim suddenly uses his mana, and penetrates every one of us.
"We can even do this!"
I suddenly felt something left me, but when I saw [Imitator]-nim, he was holding a huge mana cannon, comically bigger than himself, but I felt something strange about the cannon, as if..
"Yes, we can even borrow people's mana to cast spells."
As expected of [Imitator], he even thought about this mechanic.
"Then let's meet back here in 2 hours. FIGHTING!"
"JIA YOU!" "GANBATTE!" "LET'S DO THIS!"
---
we disperse. I'm alone with another cultured man. that replayed a scene from a classical movie.
"Ah [Krubera], I've been meaning to ask, but are you the streamer on TheyTube?"
"Ah yes I am." I was found out here huh?
"Wow, I'm a big fan!" said the player next to me his id is [Chrisom]
"Hey, aren't you a retired FPS gamer? that plays like in every major FPS game and won several leagues? I'm honored you noticed someone as small as me."
"Ah that's a long time ago... Now I'm just streaming, and now I'm a dad."
"OH! Congrats man!"
"Thank--- !!!" Suddenly, he grabbed me by the shoulder and put his hand on my mouth.
"Shhh... I think there's enemies here."
"!?"
"Since this is an MMO-like, you mind being the tank class? I'll be the ranged damage dealer."
a familiar weapon, the .50 cal, is made by [Chrisom]'s Mana. I didn't even see anybody. and suddenly...
*Bang*
the .50 cal, turn trees in front of me into a bloody mess, wait blood? trees don't bleed!
"Ah! It's still alive, one headshot is not enough, be careful, they have camo!"
My mind immediately spun, as I crafted a powder bomb with mana and threw it in the general direction. I can somewhat see a humanoid.
as soon as it came to sight,
*ratatatatatata*
a few bullets all hitting the same spot, putting a hole through the invisible enemy's head. that's [Chrisom] for ya.
"Nice idea, no wonder developers love your input."
"It's just luck."
"Yeah,' said the guy who made the highest grossing game of 2030."
"Let's not talk about that [Chrisom]"
"Your loss [Krubera]... So what are we up against?"
I walked closer to see... it's a reptile like animal, it's not humanoid at all. they just look like so from afar when invisible...
and suddenly a claw pierces through my chest.
UGH! Pain threshold at 30% doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!
"[Krubera]! KAMIKAZE BOMB! HALELUYA B***!"
as [Chrisom] said that he immediately made a bomb with all his mana and detonated it. oh yeah it's a steeple in the game [Duty and warfare] following his example I also did the same...
*BOOM*
[You died! Respawn timer: 00: 30: 00, It's suggested to take breaks after death.]
---
I was sweating, the game felt so real... especially the pain... I immediately went online and onto TheyTube to upload my Gameplay. I'm certainly gonna play this game again.
As I was editing the video I got a call from an unknown number...
"Hello, is this [Krubera]?"
"Ah this voice, are you [Chrisom]?"
"Ah, your voice is so different!"
"Huh? I thought you speak polish? I was hearing and speaking polish in game"
"I was speaking and hearing English though?"
"?"
There has been no application that's capable of real time translation like this though. Right now I'm speaking English with [Chrisom], but mine is not as good as I thought I was.
"So, did you see who killed me in the game?"
"I was pierced by a claw."
"Me by a spear-like item, but I see your assailant. it's the invisible creature from before."
"Did you think we got them?"
"It must have, anyway I was thinking of streaming the game, but there seems to be something blocking the connection to my video reader... Did you get a recording?"
"I got it, I used an external SSD, and plugged it directly into the given port."
"I'll do the same then. I should ask the developers for a streaming function later down the road."
"Yes, that's a great idea, by the way, we go for another round?"
"Sure, count me in."
---
We logged back in the game, and we respawned back in the city, our sect master seems to still be recuperating.
I was hoping for more skills.
"AH, those are the last 2. Come here guys, [Imitator]'s calling for everyone to gather, you in?"
"Of course."
---
It seems like people are gathering all sitting in a circle, with [Imitator] in the middle.
"Okay since the majority is here I'm going to tell you what I found out. First, the world. It seems that this world's magic system is based on imagination. But, that's not all, it seems that science also plays a part here."
Everyone just tilted their heads at this statement.
"Let me show you."
[Imitator] took out a seed, then planted it.
He then channels mana through it, and then, the unthinkable happens, it grows in a rate visible with the eye.
"By no means this is effective in combat, but in certain conditions..."
he then grabs the small tree trunk and pulls it out, the result? The ground is dry.
"Ah you mean? if we shoot it at the enemy?"
"Yes."
Well that certainly is unconventional. using seeds to suck the nutrients out of the body of the enemy. What a terrifying weapon.
"And one more thing, it seems that there are a variety of enemies here. there are 3 main enemies here,
Dire Wolf: a wolf like creature with 6 legs, they are fast and nimble, and pitfalls can't be used against them
Goblins : weak individually, but usually they work in a group of 5's. They are short, but their intelligence is above average, so you can be sure they're going to help those who fell into a pitfall, but that is also their downfall. as when they are helping their friend, we can focus and fire it down.
Slime : these monsters are a staple of RPGs, but beware they are vicious, and can't be hurt by Mana. The only way we managed to beat them was to use primitive weapons crafted from rocks and woods.
Ah yes, you there you've been raising your hand do you have something to add?
"
Ah [Chrisom] is raising his hand.
"We encounter a fierce foe. it's a lizard-like monster than have a passive invisibility, they move extremely fast"
"I see, that's a troublesome foe, I suspect you manage to kill or wound it somehow?"
"Of Course, shoot ' em right in the head with a .50 cal."
"But looking at it that you just respawned, there must be complications?"
"Ah yes, one shot with a .50 cal didn't kill them, i needed a full mag of m4, to confirm the kill. and they hunt in squads"
"! An anti tank can't even kill it?"
"What's this game!?"
[*Chatter Chatter*]
*clap clap*
[Imitator] clapped his hands.
"So, kinetic attacks have no effect? Have you tried magic attacks?"
"Ah, about that... We kinda got caught so we did a Kamikaze."
"You show those noobs!"
"Even from death, you still snatch a few kills huh!"
"Maybe we should just mass suicide?"
"Nah that won't work, respawn timer's 30 minute, we're only a 100 players strong, even if we took out 2 at the same time, it's 400 mobs an hour."
[*Chatter Chatter*]
*clap clap*
"Now that we have information about the 4 mobs, let's discuss tactics. Anybody have a good plan? I have no confidence in making strategies, but I have confidence in taking the most daunting tasks."
[89/9601
Time Limit: 23:32:45]
damn... we need a miracle to finish this quest... maybe it's impossible from the first place? unless a meteor falls down and... THAT's it! I raised my hands.
"Ah yes, do you have an idea you want to share?"
"Yes, is it possible for us to cast a spell together, for example, synchronize casting a fireball to make a huge one?"
"I tried to do that, but the most effective number is 3. Above that, diminishing returns are expected."
"But what if we do it with 100 people?"
"!"
"100 person synchronized casting? That's it! I'm IN!"
a person screamed from the crowd.
"A METEOR AT LEVEL 1? HELL YEAH!"
"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?"
"NOW LET'S TRY!"
[*Chatter Chatter*]
---
And so with the help of everyone we joined hand and with [Imitator] in the center we started gathering mana.
"Everyone! Remember, we have to have an image for magic to work, since it's the first time everyone is working together. Allow me to put an image of our attack in your mind."
"Remember when we are young? What do we fear the most? Of course it's our parents. What are their most powerful weapons?"
"A belt?" "NO!" "Words" "NO!" "Then Let me tell you what it is! it's A SLIPPER!" "!"
"FEEL THE FEAR, CHANNEL IT IN! NOW LEND ME YOUR MANA!"
"SYNCHRONIZED CASTING: SLIPPER OF RETRIBUTION!"
We exhaust all of our mana at the same time. Like a puppet with a string cut falling limply to the ground, with our face facing the sky...
"Did we fail?"
asks a player.
"Figures, I can still feel my ass getting slapped and I'm a married man."
but suddenly something I never thought I'll see again falls down. it's a familiar shape of a slipper's sole ....
*BOOOOOOOM*
A huge slipper falls down into the forest. our limping bodies got blasted away for god knows how far. someone even died.
It annihilated the forest and left a deep ravine with the shape of a slipper.
---